A/HRC/18/40 VI. Darfur 49. Some eight years into the conflict in Darfur, the political dynamics have changed considerably and the overall violence associated with the insurgency and counter insurgency has abated considerably. Nonetheless, the human rights situation remains a cause of concern, with continuing fighting and breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law by the parties to the conflict. Hundreds of thousands of civilians continue to suffer the effects of the armed conflict through direct attacks, displacement and limited access to humanitarian assistance. 50. In December 2010, the security situation in Darfur deteriorated significantly as a result of renewed fighting between Government forces and the armed movements. The fighting followed strained relations between the Government and the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) Minni Minawi faction, the only rebel group to have signed a peace agreement with the Government. Fighting between the SAF and the SLA Minni Minawi in Shangil Tobaya and Dar el Salaam in North Darfur, and in Khor Abeche in South Darfur, began early in December and continued throughout January and February 2011. Fighting also broke out between the SAF and the Justice and Equality Movement around the same period in Dar el Salaam. It continued intermittently and involved ground attacks by soldiers, militia and rebels and aerial bombardments by the SAF. 51. Bombing of several villages in North Darfur, including in Um Shisha, Sortony and Wadi Mura, were reported in February 2011. While it did not appear that civilians were specifically targeted, close to 40,000 civilians were displaced from these clashes. More than 15,000 of them sought temporary shelter around a UNAMID team site in Khor Abeche, where the Mission was providing limited assistance. The rest migrated northwards to the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons near El Fasher and to Tawila, north-west of El Fasher. Fleeing the armed clashes, civilians who relocated to the camps for the displaced continued to face insecurity, inadequate food and water supplies, and lack of basic rights such as education, shelter and land. Many of the newly displaced have yet to receive any 19